How we create website copy for our clients from scratch – Part 1
Your website matters when it comes to showcasing your business.
Whether you are a complex corporate or a service-led SME without a store front, your website needs to give a great first impression and hone down all your key messages for your site visitors.
When you are tasked with creating that killer copy for your website, the job can seem rather daunting. We have written website copy for many years now, for clients large and small, start-ups to long-established businesses, and we have developed some smart techniques that turn a blank page into dazzling content every time.
To keep things bite-sized, here is Part 1 of our two-part guide to creating website copy that sparkles.
Start with your target audience
Thinking like your customers is the first step to writing copy that talks directly to them. Having a customer persona can help you write content with them in mind, rather than writing for a nameless, faceless audience.
Spend time conjuring up your perfect customer then put yourself in their shoes and think about their wants and needs. See some more tips here.
An example is our client Blanchflower Lloyd Baxter (BLB). Their previous website presented them as experienced surveyors, but with no compelling reasons why clients should choose them over a rival practice.
By thinking from the client’s perspective, we shifted their inward-looking copy 180 degrees to concentrate on the benefits clients reap from working with BLB.
The result for BLB was much brighter, persuasive copy with more human examples of the way they help their clients.
This was a classic case of a company writing their own website copy then doing a double take and thinking, “What if we asked a website copywriter to look at it …?”
Your 5 starting points
What do you want to say and what are you trying to achieve when people visit your website?
Here are five things to jot down before you start writing:
- My aim – what is the point of this?
- Buzz words/keywords you want to include
- 3 bullet points – facts you want to get across
- Who it is for.
- What you want them to do.
Think this through for each of the main pages of your website.
Our client Connor needed a copywriter who would work creatively with their team to produce coherent, consistent copy:
We held a brainstorming meeting with the CEO and all directors to define what makes Connor special and determine what they wanted to achieve with their website.
We created:
- copy that is bright, engaging and clear
- striking messaging that shows customers immediately why they need Connor and what Connor can achieve for them
- strong Calls to Action that set Connor apart.
